In Los Angeles, a Data-Backed Investment in Tech Talent

Earlier this summer, Los Angeles launched the L.A. Tech Talent Pipeline, an initiative from Mayor Eric Garcetti to provide young Angelenos with tech training and connect tech talent with employers. The city’s new website about this initiative offers a window into why the L.A. Tech Talent Pipeline is so essential for the city. For one thing, jobs with tech needs are spread across all industries, including healthcare, retail, and yes, even one of the city’s biggest industries, entertainment.

As the city’s tech needs grow, Garcetti’s initiative will help ensure that Los Angeles-based companies will be able to hire from a pool of talented local residents (rather than reaching out to candidates in other cities). The Pipeline is also essential to fulfilling Garcetti’s goal of getting 20,000 young people into full-time employment by 2020.

The new site is rich with data on trends in L.A.’s tech industry. For example, the second most common industry in L.A. for tech hiring, after Software & IT, is Manufacturing. And, the more than 30% of L.A. tech workers get their education at community colleges, vocational institutions, or through online training or attending a coding bootcamp.

Lilian Coral, L.A.’s Chief Data Officer, stated in a tweet that the page shows the “data-driven policy…that led to these efforts.” For schools and businesses — as well as residents currently in the tech industry, or those hoping to join it — the site presents a case for continuing to invest in educating and training Angelenos in tech-related fields.

Telling More Data-Driven Stories in Los Angeles

L.A. Tech Talent Pipeline is not the only new site for Los Angeles: The city also recently celebrated its three-year anniversary of the launch of its open data portal with a site devoted to its open data initiative.

Celebrating Three Years of Open Data looks back at the history of #DataLA, with a timeline of major launches and awards and a deep dive into some of the biggest accomplishments, from 1,000+ datasets published to apps built off the available data. And, the city used the site to drive even more citizen engagement, showing citizens how they could get involved and become “Data Angels,” using data to make the city a better place to live and work.

Both sites were created using Socrata’s Open Data & Citizen Engagement Solution, which helps governments share information and encourage citizen involvement with civic initiatives. Learn more about the solution here.